A Challenger Has Appeared
by TheAnonymousDeviant
Summary: Being inside a computer isn't as lovely as it may seem. The freedom is great, sure, but that easily can be taken away. This is one of those times. Maybe she should be so concerned, considering she won't be waking up anytime soon.


_I'm asleep._

_I'm going to be asleep for a long time._

_Modern technology can't do much for me. Is this some sort of fluke? A sick cosmic joke? Maybe I watched too much television growing up, maybe this is a twisted dream my mind is conjuring up to keep me entertained._

_As I gaze upon the white world, filled with color and objects that mimic the real world in cyberspace, I can't help but feel this is far too real. I'm floating here like a ghost in the afterlife. I'm still alive on the outside, hooked up to a headset with a body that's a little more than just unconscious. Coma, that's the word. I hate that word._

_This place is bright. It's wonderful. It's annoying. This isn't the real world, this is just... a world inside a world. Does that make it less real? Am I any less real for now living here?_

_I've been here for a month, apparently. Time sure flies when you're just... drifting. Existing yet not at all._

_Who am I? Does it matter?_

**_Do I have a soul anymore?_**

_My name is Marcy. I'm twenty-two years old, I lived in America and did nothing but work. Maybe the stress finally got to me? Maybe I should stop asking these questions. Ha, maybe I will. Probably won't._

_I never tried asking anyone else if they can see me. I'm not sure if people notice me in here, or if I'm some ghost avatar floating around the joint. I can never tell if people are looking at me or looking through me. I tried to tell myself I should find out and see, but I'm too scared. Scared of what? Disappointment, maybe. Afraid of the jokes I tell myself, that I'm a spectral avatar locked in here, just like I'm locked in my own body out there. I can't bring myself to do it. Not yet.  
_

_It has been one month, last I checked I have plenty of time to work up the courage. I'm here all day, every day anyways._

_Well, that's what I thought before the chaos came. One moment everyone around the world is doing one thing, and the next millions of avatars have frozen midair. The world of OZ changes in the course of a few hours, paint smearing the hub in a mocking manner. And what did I do? I floated; I watched as a strange little avatar soared from top to bottom, defacing the world people have come to rely on._

_Just a pro hacker, just someone who finally managed to break into this ridiculously secured system. It was bound to happen, it always happens._

_When all was done I floated closer, touching the blue smears that were still fresh. "Well, that was a waste of time." I murmured, noticing how all the chaos stopped as quickly as it started._

_I should have known better._

_Terror struck me violently when I looked up to find all the hacked accounts were staring back at me, large grins stretched across their faces. I looked around myself, noticing all the avatars now facing me. There was a soft tap from the surface of the hub and I turned around, looking up to find the defiler standing against it horizontally; his head tilted, body shifting to face me fully. His feet were pressed flat against the surface and he remained at a perfect right angle off the core of OZ. A jingle caught my attention and I looked at the various keys attached to a ring in his hand briefly, my eyes turning back up to stare at the sharp grin that matched the rest of the avatars._

_He is the one. He did this to the world._

_His black eyes shifted up, glancing at his handiwork before looking back at me. He heard me. I just insulted the new management in less than a day.  
_

_I did the only thing I knew how now. I pressed my feet flat against the surface and pushed off as hard as I could, dodging past the hacked accounts and soaring away. It was like a tidal wave of hands grabbing me all at once, dragging and pulling me back to square one. I hit the white surface hard and rolled, coming to in a sitting position just as he landed smoothly in front of me._

_I looked up, confused, angry and scared._

**_Please don't hack my account. I don't know what will happen._**

_The fear ignited, taking over as I felt myself panicking. It spread like a virus through my system and soon I found my vision fading, his face the last I would see before blackness engulfed me and the world of OZ fell silent for the first time in a month._

* * *

**Don't worry. I haven't forgotten my other projects. I lose drive and it makes it difficult for me to focus on plot, but it's all still there. I have things being put together, I just wanted to get this short thing out of the way. It's not all going to be in first person either.  
**

**I decided to do something similar to .Hack and Sword Art Online with the headset, except it wasn't a coma induced by the internet and what not itself. I don't plan on elaborating much on it, so deal with that as an explanation. :D**

**I'll get back to my other projects, just as I will be working on this one. I get distracted depending on what phase I'm in. *currently in a Transformers mode, briefly sidetracked by Summer Wars***

**Yeaaaah. I don't have a due date on anything but I appreciate all the patience. I'll update everything, I don't plan on quitting at all. So thanks for sticking with me all together.**

**P.S. Lovers of Summer Wars, we need more fanfiction on this stuff. Especially bowchikawowow machine. :I**


End file.
